Life imprisonment
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
| Revision as of 10:24, 5 February 2012 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | A '''prison''', '''penitentiary''', or '''correctional facility''' is a place in which individuals are physically confined or [[internment|interned]], and usually deprived of a range of personal [[Freedom (political)|freedoms]]. Prisons are conventionally [[institution]]s which form part of the [[criminal justice]] system of a country, such that '''imprisonment''' or '''incarceration''' is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the [[state]] for the commission of a [[crime]]. | ||
| - | ==History== | ||
| - | :''[[history of prisons]]'' | ||
| - | For most of history, imprisoning has not been a punishment in itself, but rather a way to confine criminals until [[corporal punishment|corporal]] or [[capital punishment]] was administered. There were prisons used for detention in [[Jerusalem]] in [[Old Testament]] times. [[Dungeon]]s were used to hold prisoners; those who were not killed or left to die there often became [[galley slave]]s or faced [[penal transportation]]s. In other cases [[debtor]]s were often thrown into [[debtor's prison]]s, until they paid their jailers enough money in exchange for a limited degree of freedom. | ||
| - | Only in the 19th century, beginning in Britain, did prisons as we know them today become commonplace. The modern prisons system was born in [[London]], as a result of the views of [[Jeremy Bentham]]. The notion of prisoners being incarcerated as part of their punishment and not simply as a holding state until trial or hanging, was at the time revolutionary. | + | '''Life imprisonment''' (also known as a '''life sentence''', '''lifelong incarceration''' or '''life incarceration''') is a [[sentence (law)|sentence]] of [[imprisonment]] for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in [[prison|jail]] for the rest of his or her life. Examples of crimes for which a person could receive this sentence include [[murder]], severe [[child abuse]], [[rape]], [[high treason]], severe or violent cases of [[Illegal drug trade|drug dealing]] or [[human trafficking]], or aggravated cases of [[burglary]] or [[robbery]] resulting in death or [[grievous bodily harm]]. |
| - | [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] practiced [[penal transportation]] of [[convict]]ed [[criminal]]s to [[penal colonies|penal colony]] in the British colonies in [[the Americas]], from the 1610s through the [[American Revolution]] in the 1770s and to penal colonies in [[Australia]] between 1788 and 1868. [[France]] sent criminals to [[tropical]] penal colonies including [[Louisiana]] in the early eighteenth century. Penal colonies in [[French Guiana]] operated until 1951 (in particular, infamous ''Île du Diable'' ([[Devil's Island]])). [[Katorga]] prisons were established in the 17th century in [[Tsardom of Russia]] in underpopulated areas of [[Siberia]] and the [[Russian Far East]] that had few towns or food sources. Since these times, Siberia gained its fearful connotation of punishment. | + | This sentence does not exist in all countries. [[Portugal]] was the first country in the world to abolish life imprisonment by the [[Prison reform]]s of Sampaio e Melo, in 1884. However, where life imprisonment is a possible sentence, there may also be formal mechanisms to request [[parole]] after a certain period of imprisonment. This means that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence (that is, until he or she dies) outside of prison. Early release is usually ''conditional'' depending on past and future conduct, possibly with certain restrictions or obligations. In contrast, in jurisdictions without life imprisonment, a convict who has served the given prison sentence is ''free'' upon release. |
| + | |||
| + | The length of time and the modalities surrounding parole vary greatly for each jurisdiction. In some places convicts are entitled to apply for parole relatively early, in others only after several decades. However, the time of legally being entitled to apply for parole does not often tell anything about the actual date of being granted parole. Article 110 of the [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|Rome Statute]] of the [[International Criminal Court]] stipulates that for the gravest forms of crimes (e.g., war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide), a prisoner ought to serve two thirds of a fixed sentence, or 25 years in the case of life imprisonment. The highest determined prison sentence that can be imposed in the ICC is 35 years in prison, other than life imprisonment. After this period, the court shall then review the sentence to determine whether it should be reduced. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Unlike other areas of [[criminal law]], sentences handed to [[minor (law)|minors]] do not differ from those given to legal [[adult]]s. A few countries worldwide had allowed for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have no provision for eventual release. Countries that allow life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juveniles include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brunei, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Of these, only the United States currently has minors serving such sentences. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch had calculated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life without parole in the United States. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In 2010, the United States Supreme court ruled that sentencing minors to life without parole for crimes other than first-degree murder violated the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|8th Amendment]]'s ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment, in the case of ''[[Graham v. Florida]]''. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[10-20-Life]] | ||
| + | * [[Incapacitation (penology)|Incapacitation]] | ||
| + | * [[Indefinite prison sentence]] | ||
| + | * [[Use of capital punishment by nation]] | ||
| - | The first "modern" prisons of the early 19th Century were sometimes known by the term "penitentiary" (a term still used by some prisons in the USA today or the Dutch "Penitentiare Inrichting/Institution): as the name suggests, the goal of these facilities was that of [[penance]] by the prisoners, through a regimen of strict disciplines, silent reflections and perhaps forced and deliberately pointless labor on [[treadwheel]]s and the like. This "[[Auburn system]]" of prisoner management was often reinforced by elaborate prison architectures, such as the [[separate system]] and the [[panopticon]]. It was not until the late 19th Century that rehabilitation through education and skilled labor became the standard goal of prisons. | ||
| - | == See also == | ||
| - | *[[Debtors' prison]] | ||
| - | *[[Prison escape]] | ||
| - | *[[Literature written in prison]] | ||
| - | *''[[Discipline and Punish|Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison]]'' by Foucault | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Life imprisonment (also known as a life sentence, lifelong incarceration or life incarceration) is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life. Examples of crimes for which a person could receive this sentence include murder, severe child abuse, rape, high treason, severe or violent cases of drug dealing or human trafficking, or aggravated cases of burglary or robbery resulting in death or grievous bodily harm.
This sentence does not exist in all countries. Portugal was the first country in the world to abolish life imprisonment by the Prison reforms of Sampaio e Melo, in 1884. However, where life imprisonment is a possible sentence, there may also be formal mechanisms to request parole after a certain period of imprisonment. This means that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence (that is, until he or she dies) outside of prison. Early release is usually conditional depending on past and future conduct, possibly with certain restrictions or obligations. In contrast, in jurisdictions without life imprisonment, a convict who has served the given prison sentence is free upon release.
The length of time and the modalities surrounding parole vary greatly for each jurisdiction. In some places convicts are entitled to apply for parole relatively early, in others only after several decades. However, the time of legally being entitled to apply for parole does not often tell anything about the actual date of being granted parole. Article 110 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court stipulates that for the gravest forms of crimes (e.g., war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide), a prisoner ought to serve two thirds of a fixed sentence, or 25 years in the case of life imprisonment. The highest determined prison sentence that can be imposed in the ICC is 35 years in prison, other than life imprisonment. After this period, the court shall then review the sentence to determine whether it should be reduced.
Unlike other areas of criminal law, sentences handed to minors do not differ from those given to legal adults. A few countries worldwide had allowed for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have no provision for eventual release. Countries that allow life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juveniles include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brunei, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Of these, only the United States currently has minors serving such sentences. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch had calculated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life without parole in the United States.
In 2010, the United States Supreme court ruled that sentencing minors to life without parole for crimes other than first-degree murder violated the 8th Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment, in the case of Graham v. Florida.
See also
